Improvement in giving rotation to ordnance projectiles



UNiTED Starts Farrar Ormea.

HENRY K. KEXYON, OF STEUISENVILLE, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN GIVING ROTATION TO ORDNANCE PROJECTILES.

Specification forming part. of Leiters Patent No. 36,959, dated November 18, ltIi..

To ctl whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY K. KnXroN, of Steubenville, in the county of Jefferson. and State of Ohio, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Rotating Projectiles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formiing' part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved projectile. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the operation of my invention wit-hin a cannon.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate corresponding parts.

The nature of my invention consists-in a peculiar formation of the forward or penetrating end of the projectile, whereby increased certainty of the penetration of metal armor is secured.

It consists, second, in the formation of the circumference of projectiles with oblique selfadjusting friction-rollers, so that the projectile in the act of passing from the bore of the cannon will, by frictional contact upon the plain surface of the bore, be caused to rotate, the same as is the case with projectiles fired from ried ordnance. I

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe it ininutely with reference-to the drawings.

The part A, which constitutes a steel point, of my projectile is constructed with a series of rectangular punches, a b c d. The punch a is' the largest of the series, and presents two corners, 1 1, in line with the vertical axis of the part B of the projectile, and two corners, 2 2, in line with the horizontal axis thereof. The length ofthe punch ais about two inches, more or less, as occasion may demand. The shoulders b b at the base of the punch a are very shallow, and will not interfere with the passage of the projectile through the plating when it has penetrated to that extent. The next succeeding punch, 11, which is smaller than a, is formed so as to present sharp corners 3 3 at the center of each of the dat sides of punch a, and is about three-fourths of an inch in length. The next punch, c, is smaller than I), and is formed so as to have its corners 4 4 4. i in line with the corners 1 1 2 2 of the punch u; and the punch d. which is the irst entering portion of the steel point, is formed so as to have its corners 55 in line with the corners 3 3 of the punch I. It will be observed that the punches decrease in size just suilicient to admit of this converse position of the cornersl and still not have the corners extend beyond the iiat sides of the preceding or succeeding punch. By thus having the corners of the respective punches stand in the relation to one another, as described, in connection with the formation of the point of the projectile with a series of dierent-sized punches, the liability of the point failing to penetrate the object it strikes, for want of a hold upon it, is greatly lessened, it being obvious that one or another of the corners will be likely to secure a hold, and Jthat the small punch will enter more readily than a large one, and, having entered, the resistance offered tothe succeeding punches will be far less than if the small aperture had not been punched previously. The whole practical value and utility of this part of my invention is due to the specified arrangement of the corners of the different punches, this arrangement presenting less resisting metal than when the sides of. the several punches are parallel or when the punches are formed of a series of concentric cylinders of dierent .or

vgradually-increased diameters.

On that part of the projectile which is in rear of the series of punches four friction-rollers f f ff are arranged, said rollers being set in oblong cross-shaped recesses g g, cut in dat tened parts of the projectile. The recesses are diagonal or oblique to the longitudinal axis of the projectile, and those portions, m, which receive the' journals of the rollers rise on an incline as they run back.,r The recesses.

are long enough to admit considerable play back and forth, both of the rollers and their journals. Screw-plates h h h h, which are diagonally slotted, conne the rollers in position in the recesses, but do not interfere with their revolution and longitudinal oblique travel therein. The lead packing O to the projectile is fitted round a reduced portion, j, and conned by means of a ring-cap, I), which bears against it through the action of ascrewplug, 7;. There is a slight space left between the proj eetile and the ring-cap when the parts are screwed together, so that the lead shall be expanded sufficientlyY to prevent windage. lI make no other use of the lead, depending wholly upon the friction-rollers for the imparta-tion of a rotary motion to the projectile. This oilice they perform by reason of their oblique or diagonal set and their impingement upon the plain bore of the cannon. It is obvious that when t-he projectile is forced into the gun `or cannon the friction-rollers will run forward in the slots or recesses g g, asindicated in Fig. 3 at X, and thus allow a ready entrance of the projectile to its seat; and it is also obvious that when the projectile is fired from the cannon the friction-rollers will run backward in the recesses, as indicated at X', and in doing this' the incline planes of the journal-supports will cause the rollers to rise and act with a iirni impinging resistance' to the escape of the projectile upon the bore of the cannon, and thus insure aforcible rotation of the projectile during its flight in the air, the commencement of which motion taking place inthe cannon.. The material of which the rollers are formed being softer than the gun-metal and the rollers having every freedom to turn on their journals, although acted uponby the most powerful impacting force,

there is noY injnryidone to the gun Yby reason' of the friction which is necessarily induced by vention for producing` rotation may be ap-v plied to round balls and to balls made wholly of cast or wrought iron. So, also, may my compound punclrpoint be connected to projectiles, large or small, rota-ted in ordinary ways.-

The friction-rollers fin the line of their axes Ishould have their circumferential surface struck from the axis of the projectile, so that a conformity thereof to the bore of the cannon shall be secured.

l hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The specified relative arrangement of the corners of the respective sections of the punchpoint of the projectile, for the purpose set forth.

2. Constructing that part of the proj ectile in rear of the compound punch-point with cross or other similar shaped oblique recesses g m, when "the parts m of said recesses rise on an incline, in combination with sliding, rising, and descending rollers f, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

HENRY K. K ENYON.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM KEY, GUsTAVE DIETERICH. 

